James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010

Floor Speech

* Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my support for H.R. 847, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2009, which amends the Public Health Service Act to extend and improve protections and services to individuals directly impacted by the terrorist attack in New York City on September 11, 2001. The effects of H.R. 847 will be twofold: it will mandate funding to establish the World Trade Center Health Programs, and it will reopen the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. Both provisions are necessary to sufficiently care for the health and economic welfare of the Americans who were victims of the September 11 attacks and who responded in the aftermath of the attacks. This act guarantees America's heroes--who have sacrificed so much for our country--the medical and financial support they deserve.

* As we approach the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC), it is especially important that Congress remember that there are survivors of and responders to the attacks who continue to suffer today. These victims may experience a long-term negative impact on their health many years into the future. For the first seven years after September 11, the Bush administration failed to respond adequately to the medical emergency caused by dangerous airborne toxins at Ground Zero. Americans from every state and every walk of life have been affected by those toxins, and over 71,000 people have enrolled in the WTC Health Registry because of their condition. Toxin-related illnesses include respiratory, gastrointestinal, and mental-health disease. Additionally, these illnesses have caused financial loss for many survivors and responders, 11,000 of whom have sued the City of New York because they have no viable alternative for receiving compensation. H.R. 847 will deal thoroughly and effectively with each of these problems.

* Title I of H.R. 847 provides mandatory funding for the establishment of the World Trade Center Health Programs. These programs will provide consistent and readily available medical treatment for the September 11 survivors and those who responded in the aftermath of the attacks, many of whom suffer egregiously from the airborne toxins present at Ground Zero. H.R. 847 will also strengthen the medical monitoring and treatment programs and other social services programs for survivors already in place at the Clinical Centers of Excellence in New York City. Title I goes on to establish a WTC National Responder Program, which will give eligible survivors and responders who live outside of the New York City metro area access to a nationwide network of healthcare providers associated with the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. Additionally, Title I provides for research into health problems related to the September 11 attacks, so that legislators, doctors, survivors, and responders can be better informed about the nature of these conditions.

* Title II of H.R. 847 will reopen the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund (VCF), which closed in 2003, until 2031. The original deadline prevented survivors and responders who did not file a claim before the deadline, or who became ill after the deadline, to receive compensation for losses sustained as a result of the attacks. Reopening the fund will not change eligibility standards for compensation; rather, doing so will ensure that anyone eligible for compensation at any point receives the best care and support possible. The newly reopened VCF will also allow for the offsetting of over 11,000 lawsuits filed by survivors and responders suffering from the effects of WTC toxins.

* Title III of the bill ensures that its $7.7 billion cost is fully paid for by preventing a form of tax evasion called ``treaty shopping.'' This makes the bill pay-as-you-go neutral, and thus amenable to Congress' goals of intelligent spending and fiscal responsibility.

* The attacks on the World Trade Center irrevocably changed the lives of all Americans. As a result, we see the world from a markedly different perspective, and we have entered two expensive and bloody wars. The number of lives lost in Iraq and Afghanistan, added to the toll taken by the attacks themselves, is a devastating tragedy. But, with the passage of this bill, we can stop any more victims of the September 11 attacks from dying or continuing to suffer. We must be able to look back on our legislative record and say that we assured justice to the heroes of 9/11, who stood on the front lines as America came under siege.

* I urge my colleagues to support this important resolution.

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